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Xenotherium
Name: Xenotherium (strange beast) Height: 4 meters (females) 6 meters (males) Length: 7 meters (females) 9 meters (males) Weight: 540 kg (females) 732 kg (males) Habitat: Savannah Diet: celestiphytes adapted to life in savannas Type species: X. occidentalis Description The Xenotherium is a huge herbivorous Ambulospeculid native to the large eastern continent currently unnamed. Females are around 4 meters high and 6 meters long whereas males are huge and can reach up to 7 meters in height and 9 meters in length. Like all Ambulospeculids they possess armour, 4 limbs (2 in the front of which have been transformed into giant mantis-like forelegs) and display structures on their heads. Only the males retain these crests-like display structures, which are red and resemble combs in chickens. The males are further distinguished by their light green colour as opposed to the orange colour of the females. Larvae are completely brown, whereas pupae are beige. Adults loose 2 of their proboscises, and unlike other Ambulospeculids, they only have 1 proboscis. Behaviour They live in herds of up to 30 adult individuals. They are herbivores and move across the savanna in search of tree-like celestiphytes like the bone tree to browse on. They use their long proboscis to feed. Despite the menacing looking forelegs like those of a praying mantis they are mainly used for browsing on taller trees. However, they can use them for display for dominance or even to threaten predators when provoked, but they rarely use them to willingly attack other creatures. Males can be quite territorial. Before the end of the dry season, they breed and lay eggs. Males within the herd show off their display structures and powerful forelegs, and sometimes even fight. Breeding When the females lays her eggs, the male fertilises them. Unlike other Ambulospeculids, they have lost the need to lay eggs in the water. Instead, the female lays 3-5 eggs in a burrow near a tree-like celestiphytes each. The larvae live their lives inside the tree like celestiphytes where they feed on the insides of the tree. They remain in this stage for 6 months growing to a size of 1 m. Then it becomes a pupa without feeding and stays inside the tree for 2 weeks until it reaches its final stage. The imago stage bursts out of the tree. While it is fully formed in metamorphosis, it keeps growing until it become fully grown. The females of the herd don’t look after the hatchlings. Evolution Some fossilized distant relatives of the Xenotherium have been found. They are part of the family Xenotheridae. These include the Wallacia and Zounklakatoikos (Jungle dweller). The small build of the bones Zounklakatoikos indicate it was a small nimble predator well adapted for life in jungles. The most popular theory holds that the climate of Wallace II dried up, leading to the shrinking of the jungles and giving way to the drier savanna grasslands. This forced the Xenotheres to adapt to the new environment leading to the evolution of Xenotherium. The Xenotherium is believed to have a similar ecological niche to Earth’s extinct ground sloths and chalicotheres. Species X. occidentalis is the only extant species. X. antiquus, X. giganteus and X. porosus are extinct. Category:Dispeculata Category:Ambulospeculida Category:Media Insula